“VID’IO FIORENZA IN SÍ FATTO RIPOSO CHE NON AVEA CAGION ONDE PIANGESSE. CON QUESTE GENTI VID’IO GLORIOSO E GIUSTO IL POPOL SUO, TANTO CHE ‘L GIGLIO NON ERA AD ASTA MAI POSTO A RITROSO, NÉ PER DIVISION FATTO VERMIGLIO”
DANTE, PAR., XVI, 149-154
“FLORENCE BEHELD I IN SO GREAT REPOSE, THAT NO OCCASION HAD SHE WHENCE TO WEEP; WITH ALL THESE FAMILIES BEHELD SO JUST AND GLORIOUS HER PEOPLE, THAT THE LILY NEVER UPON THE SPEAR WAS PLACED REVERSED, NOR BY DIVISION WAS VERMILION MADE."
Through the words of his ancestor Cacciaguida, Dante envisioned an idea of Florence in the past free from internal struggles, very different from the turbulent one he knew. At that time, it had never happened that the lily, the symbol of Florence, was put on backwards ("never upon the spear was placed reversed "), in sign of the defeat suffered by the rival faction. During the Ghibelline period of Florence, the lily was white on a red background, but with the advent of the Guelphs it was decided to change color: red lily (vermilion) on a white background. The plaque can be found in Palazzo Vecchio, which is, since its construction, the center of the political power of the city. The memorial plaque, along with two more, is placed in the Michelozzo Courtyard.
Lapide Dantesca: Cortile di Palazzo Vecchio
P.za della Signoria, Firenze
